Second Hearing Is Scheduled on Coal Ash Landfill

Concerned citizens packed a room during the first landfill hearing last month.

A second public hearing has been scheduled to give citizens a chance to voice concerns they have about a controversial coal ash landfill proposed for Labadie.

The hearing will be held Wednesday, July 10, at 5 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall, lower level, 1121 Columbus Lane, Washington.

A second public hearing was needed because many people were unable to testify since so many people attended the first hearing, according to the Missouri Public Service Commission.

Ameren Missouri is seeking permission from the PSC to expand the boundaries of its Labadie Energy Center for the landfill.

Some residents, many of whom are with the Labadie Environmental Organization, say they are concerned about the landfill’s impact on health and the environment. They say that the landfill would be built in a floodway and floodplain of the Missouri River and that another location should be used.

LEO has also filed a lawsuit, which is in the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District in St. Louis, alleging that Franklin County illegally adopted zoning regulations allowing for the landfill.

But Ameren officials say the landfill would be safe with liners, groundwater monitoring wells and comply with many government regulations.

The 800-acre landfill “footprint” would include access roads, groundwater monitoring equipment and the actual coal ash landfill. The coal ash storage would only be about 167 acres, according to Ameren.

Ameren wants the landfill operational by April of 2016 and hopes that it will provide enough storage space for 24 years.

The landfill would be built in several phases with Phase 1 costing $27 million.

Ameren officials say the landfill is needed because the coal ash waste storage ponds at the power plant are reaching capacity.

DNR Permits

In addition to seeking approval from the PSC for the landfill, Ameren is also going through a permitting process with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Ameren has submitted to DNR an application for a solid waste disposal area construction permit, and it is under review.

Ameren must still submit to DNR applications for a solid waste disposal area operating permit and a land disturbance permit.

There must also be modifications made to the national pollutant discharge elimination system permit.